Snakes...... I like them as much as I do micros. Apparently, I shouldn't have placed so much worry on running into one outdoors during our adventures though. I spent Friday morning hunting down a two foot snake in Joshua's bedroom. Talk about sweating bullets. I have since been informed that it was not a cooperhead as I had thought. But at 8:30 am fresh from the shower and dressed in a towel, my mind wasn't exactly in a place to really care. Besides, did I mention snakes rate right up there with micros?

PS It's amazing what you can accomplish with a Swiffer dust mop and a metal yard stick.

Lum and Abner sounded the "snake in the yard" alarm late this afternoon. It turned out to be juvenile hog nose snake - around 6 to 8 inches. I haven't seen any of these in quite a while. This is the kind that plays dead. It turns over on it's back, opens it's mouth wide open and let's it's tongue hang out limp. It's really funny to watch. I played with it a while then put it outside the fence.

During my years o f medical practice Ive treated four snake bites. They are indeed rare .. the most venemous in Ark isn the cottonmouth, then the rattlesnake , then the copperhead. Though dangerous , the corral snake has such a small mouth envenamation rarely occurs in humans. The most dangerous situation is to be walking a path beside a natural ledge and the snake strike your face or neck. Aprx 30percent of the time the snake will have no venom..unfortunately you cant count on that. A bite on the leg or arm is rarely fatal..mostly in elderly or small child. Venemous snakes are pit vipers...this means they have a small pit on top of their head. Their heads are triangular , except the corral . Some soun d advice has already been given in this forum ..do not lacerate the bite ,try to suck the venom ,etc., within a fraction of a second the venom is already through your body. Get to the hospital as quickly as possible...ALL Ark hospitals carry the anti venom..if bitten on the face or neck and you are any distance away you have one thing on your side ..call 911 , Babtist or Ark Childrens can dispatch a helicopter to you pronto and can start the antivenom when they arrive on the scene... all you have to do is get to a clearing large enough for the copter..also call local law enforcement so they can secure the landing area. I had to call them once . I was in Scott , at Cothams , when a diner arrested..in 18 minutes the BMC chopper was on the ground...the pt survived. With your gps you can give the pilot an exact position. He has an on board gps. You need to learn to identify a poisonous snake .. Give all snakes a clear berth. Given the chance , a snake will do everything in its power to avoid you . If you walk slowly the snake feels the vibration and will depart the area before you arrive. In most encounters between a snake and a human the snake is the that dies.

I recently started caching with my children (5 and 7 years old). I've gotten them hiking boots and walking sticks. I'm still worried about them poking around in the wrong place.
We've enjoyed the little bit of hunting that we've done but, my wife found a baby copperhead in the front yard yesterday and now I'm afraid shes' going to put a stop to our excursions into the woods.
What about snake boots for kids?

snakes

I know this thread is about snake tips and the only one I have is to be cautious. I have stuck my hand under rocks in New Mexico, Arkansas, Texas and I am still alive (so luck is a big part too). However, I do have some great snake and geocache stories.

I was looking for a cache at a waterfall in Vicksburg, MS with my girlfriend. She had already tumbled down the hill and was out rock hopping when she fell forward. Her hand was just about two feet from a snake. We didn't identify it (all snakes are generally bad, even though I find them fascinating) but it was enough that she now doesn't like geocaching with me. If you factor in the large snake we saw while hiking/geocaching at Petite Jean (which she stumbled upon) you can understand why she doesn't care for caching so much.

Looking back, I might invest in snake boots, except they seem rather uncomfortable.

my experience!!!

while out looking for a few caches at Tar camp park in redfeild i was bitten by a cotton mouth. I was in depth in the screen of my GPS trying to get to ground Zero. Must a reminder always check where you step regardless of how close you are to the cache. It was a small juevinile snake but it didn't inject any venom it was a dry bite. none the less i carried the snake to the hospital still alive. after it was determined it was a dry bite i carried it to my deer lease and released it. No harm no foul. Just pay attention to where you step and not so much to the screen on the gps.

Not geocaching, but working with AP&L (Entergy) years ago, I was bitten by a Copperhead not too far from your area. I actually lived at the time in Sheridan, but my office at the time was the one in Little Rock, which included the Sardis/East End area. I drove myself to the VA hospital & pretty much passed out right upon entering the ER. But they shot me up with several vials of anti-venin, which screwed me up worse than the snake-bite itself, & patched me all up.

A couple years later I got it again from a baby Rattler I was trying to play with. (I have a nasty habit of doing that, since I'm not afraid of snakes at all ) But his fangs were just barely long enough to penetrate skin & I received no AV for it .... didn't want any after the first time.

Got another bite about 3 years ago from, of all things, a little Green-Snake that .... well, I was playing with too.

I can tell you with affirmation, as you most likely can also, it's not an interesting experience.

Not geocaching, but working with AP&L (Entergy) years ago, I was bitten by a Copperhead not too far from your area. I actually lived at the time in Sheridan, but my office at the time was the one in Little Rock, which included the Sardis/East End area. I drove myself to the VA hospital & pretty much passed out right upon entering the ER. But they shot me up with several vials of anti-venin, which screwed me up worse than the snake-bite itself, & patched me all up.

A couple years later I got it again from a baby Rattler I was trying to play with. (I have a nasty habit of doing that, since I'm not afraid of snakes at all ) But his fangs were just barely long enough to penetrate skin & I received no AV for it .... didn't want any after the first time.

Got another bite about 3 years ago from, of all things, a little Green-Snake that .... well, I was playing with too.

I can tell you with affirmation, as you most likely can also, it's not an interesting experience.

//YOU play with snake'S
w0w yea the only way i play with snakes is when i pull out the flame throwers 0r the rocket luncher or even call in a air strike to just kill the snake on site !!!